All that is important

Am I now trying to win the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I was still trying to please man I would not be a servant of Christ.' Galatians 1 v 10

'I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law Christ died for nothing.' Galatians 2 v 21

'Because we are his sons God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, the spirit that cries out 'Abba, Father!'' Galatians 4 v 6

'You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.' Galatians 5 v13

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Galatians 6 v14

So we had a little stay in Cornwall, all 9 of us. We made it our mission to memorise all these verses during our stay there. They all really challenge and inspire me. They outline five fundamentals which I view as crucial to life:

Who am I trying to please?

How am I trying to do it?

Will I be doing it on my own strength?

How should I express my freedom?

What then should we do??

These verses give clear answers: We're trying to please God. He should be the only one we're working for, the only one we're trying to impress with all our endeavours and purely because of who he is. And the way we should do it is through Gods grace: His completely and utterly undeserved favour that he lavishly bestows upon us all the time. If we could be pure through our own actions or through the law then Christ died for nothing, his death was pointless. But as it is, Jesus died for us all so that our salvation doesn't depend on ourselves but on him, therefore his death means everything.

Because we accept this as fact, God calls us his children and gives us an unbelievable gift. His spirit!! He lives within us, helping us, strengthening us all the time. All this means that we are not dependant on the law or ourselves - we're free! BUT, we shouldn't use this freedom for selfish purposes. We need to use it to serve others in love. I think that's such a fantastic and incredible aim for life. As a result, we should shout about Christ from the rooftops! He is the only thing we should boast about - not ourselves and our achievements but JESUS CHRIST WHO DIED FOR US!!!! (That's shouting over the internet) I don't mean go into a street and yell about it, but metaphorically shout in everyday life. Let Christ be the one thing that matters and it will show in everything that you do. I promise.

So. That's a lot to unpack, I'm going to leave you to think about it ;)

Gina X